tough cookie
Bronwyn’s boy has to wear a hip brace 24/7
Me and my fiance Mark, 30, couldn’t have been happier. In June, we welcomed our baby boy Joel into the world. At 9lb 1oz, he was big and strong.
My pregnancy had been fine. But towards my due date, doctors said Joel was breech.
At 39 weeks, I’d had a Caesarean.
Back home, we adjusted to life with a newborn.
At a few days old, Joel went to Wrexham Maelor Hospital for routine tests. One was an examination of his hip joints.
‘I think there’s something wrong,’ a nurse told us.
Joel had to have scans on his hips and it was confirmed…
‘He’s got hip dysplasia,’ a consultant explained.
His hip joints hadn’t formed properly, and were so loose they could dislocate.
The cause was unknown, but the doctor explained the condition could be treated.
‘He’ll need to wear a brace for 24 hours a day, for the next eight weeks at least,’ Mark and I were told.
The brace was called a Pavlik harness and would secure his hips in a stable position to allow them to develop normally.
When I saw it, I was horrified.
It wrapped around his tiny chest, and his legs were strapped in.
It looked so uncomfortable, and it broke my heart to see him wearing it.
Doctors said if his dysplasia had been picked up a few months later, he’d have had to have major corrective surgery.
Suddenly, the brace didn’t seem so bad.
Back home, Joel didn’t seem fazed by it at all.
As it couldn’t be removed,
It broke my heart to see my tiny little boy in the brace…
Mark and I couldn’t bathe him. He had to have a sponge wash.
And changing his nappy around his harness was fiddly.
Joel’s due a check-up soon to see how his hips are developing.
And doctors will decide if he needs to wear the brace for longer than eight weeks.
We’ve got our fingers crossed that won’t be the case, though.
But whatever happens,
I just know Joel will just take it all in his baby stride.
He’s mummy’s little soldier!